The Hunter
by Nilinara
Summary: When she had arrived in Draenor she had not expected what followed. She had expected to fight countless foes, not babysitting a young mage or for an old family issue to be brought up. She only hopes she get out of this with as many body parts as when she started.


**Chapter 1**

Darkness slowly fell on the small gartering of trees that somehow had managed to grow in the mountains between Dun Morogh and Loch Mordan. The sun left early in this region and the snow seemed never to stop falling and it seemed to never melt away. This was true for Dun Morgue as it was always covered with snow but Loch Mordan mostly left bare. This mix of climates made the weather in the mountains interesting to say the least.

In the small gathering of trees you could see a small fire burning. It was fighting for its life in the cold wind and wet snow. Many a time it seemed like it was on its way to burn out, but every time it did a skilled and experienced hand would stretched out and help it survive while huddling closer to it. The surrounding trees gave only a little protection against the cold wind that stubbornly tried to get to those who traveled in the mountains.

The hand fed the fire a final time before its owner withdrew to a small handmade cavern of snow a short distant away. Wrapped in a tick coat the hunter (who else would willingly camp in these conditions) entered and settled down against the fury side of a grey wolf. The wolf shuffled closer to its companion to keep the other warm and went back to sleep. The hunter followed soon after to the sound of the raging cold wind and did not care when the small fire died out for good.

'''

The sun started to rise over the horizon but its light had yet to reach the hunters camp in the mountains. Not that it mattered much, both hunter and gray wolf where awake and following the trail leading out of the mountains to Dun Morogh. They had already passed the last of the dwarf's mountain outposts when they could finally see the sun rise over the mountains.

The sun moved over the sky as time passed on the duos journey in the snow-clad landscape. They had not encountered any other travelers, the only other humanoid being they had meet being the mountaineers patrolling the roads. The hunter knew they could probably reach the next town within a day from the last outpost if they ran at full speed but saw no reason to do so.

Besides, an old friend of hers worked near Gal'borlab Quarry, between the closest town and the mountains and she had not seen him in a long time. She only had the opportunity to visit him recently since she had found herself without any task to do. Almost all her other acquaintances of hers where still running around Pandaria, long after she had grown bored of the scenery and the culture. The terrain was a bit too peaceful and too organized; it was not wild enough for her. The problems with the sha more a bother others were better at dealing with then her.

This was probably the main reason she had decided to visit old friends in all too familiar land when her only contact with them for years had been through letters. It was also refreezing to run some easy favors of them, nothing of that was really a challenge but she found it nostalgic.

The small crossroad that divided the main road and the small road to Gal'borlab appeared before her and she hurried up in her step only a little, only her pet actually noticed and quickly matched her step. The distance was barely noticeable for someone used to travel and she could see the tents between the snowclad trees.

"Friend, how are ya?" one of the dwarfs shouted as she and her companion came into sight from the camps. She immediately recognized her friends on his voice even if his face had many more stress marks than normal.

"I am as well as I can be if a little restless for a challenge, old friend." She replied with a barely noticed smile on her face at the greeting.

"Restless you say? I so I'm sure ya father would need your help last I heard." The dwarf gave her a stern look that only dwarfs had a chance to duplicate.

The hunter raced an eyebrow to show her skepticism. The last time she had seen her father was battling the undead in Northrend on her own trip there and they had only exchanged letters briefly since then.

"What would my father possibly need me for? He is a great warrior and can do almost anything on his own."

Her friend made a gesture to one of the logs surrounding the campfire and she took a seat while her wolf companion spread himself out close to the fire enjoying the extra warmth it provided. The dwarf waving left to fetch something to drink and returned in an amazing pace.

"There is worrying news down south, lass. Another Horde from the portal they say." He huffed "they're planning to use same tactic as last time to shut the portal from the other side, heard ya father was chosen to be the commander for tha expedition. May never come back" He stopped and eyed her intensely, trying to find some indicate for extreme emotion under the indifferent hunter look.

"That true lass, but it would be a whole new world for ya. New beast to hunt, the high up´s even asked for the famous Hemet Nesingwary to go to tha new world to hunt." He continued when she did not say anything. When it came to famous dwarfs he always seemed to keep track of where they were in the world they were and were they would be next. That he knew this information was less surprising than the information about her father.

In truth she felt a small urge to see the world on the other side of the new portal herself as she had already seen the world of outland on the other side of the old one. Besides even with her distanced relationship with her father he was her family and the only one that was still alive, she did not want him dead and should protect him even if he could do so well on his own.

Aberrantly something of her thoughts could be seen on her face or maybe her friend was only good at reading her even after he had not seen her for a long time because he barked out a delighted laugh.

"I guess I won't be seeing ya for a long time then lass. But before you run of again help an old friend out would ya?" he huffed as if trying to seem upset but a glint of good humor in his eyes gave him away.

The wolf by the fire immediately perked up sensing an imminent hunt to start. The hunter directing a fond gesture at her companion for the positive reaction that only said companion could catch and then rose from her seat, directing a questioning look at her dwarven friend for further instructions'.

Her friend put on the more serious look he had previous worn while giving her the information on her father before obliging.

"The trogs keep running over the mine, we can't mine metal there until they are driven out. I keep sending every young adventurer out do deal with them as they are more an annoyance then a real danger, but it only to so much. The ones I send don't manage to get rid of enough of them for the peace to last very long. They do their best but they are still only starting in the adventurer business. "

He signs resigned at this, as if he was disappointed in the results but could not really blame the adventurers he sent for their inexperience.

"You have a lot of experience; they should be child's play for ya. Get them out of my hair long enough so my men and I can get some work done."

He took a swing of the alcohol beverage as a comfort to his troubles.

The hunter started to leave the campsite to deal with it her canine companion moving to follow. "I get right to it, I will be back as soon as I can. "

The dwarf only gave her a strict look from the edge of his mugs rim. "Be sure to stop before a while longer before you rush of to your next adventure and catch me up one some of them. They make excellent stories to tell by the campfire."

Her mouth formed into the traces of a smile before she pulled out her bow and ready it as she set off in high speed towards the mine, her companion in tow.

'''

Only a couple of days wandering towards the dwarven city of Ironforge and she was soon at its gates. It had only been a week since she had met her old friend and helped him with his trog problem. In which she also had gained her next goal and destination. A couple of days after her fixing of the trog problem had been spent retelling tales of the adventures she had since the last time they saw each other. Afterwards she had quickly left for Ironforge to take the train to Stormwind and collecting some supplies from her contacts there before hopefully get her hands on a mage that could open a portal to the blasted lands, where the dark portal should be located.

She kept climbing up the steep mountain road that led up to the gates and even in her quick pace she had enough time to somewhat enjoy the view of the winter landscape the path provided. The cold wind had chosen to be absent during her travel up the mountain side for which she was grateful. The landscape beneath her still glimmered in the morning glow as the sun had just started to rise over the mountains in the west as oppose to the dark early hours of the day I which she had set out from the town Kharanos.

Her wolf companion tugged at the edge of her cape lightly to get her attention and urge her to pick up the pace as it grew impatient. The hunter only gave the wolf a raised eyebrow as her companion never previously showed and positive attitude to taking the train previously. However she concluded it only was because he was exited for the new beasts to hunt in their next adventure.

 **AN: I have barely any idée how to write dwarfs but I decided to post the start to this story anyway. Even if I finished it about a year ago.**

 **I have the basic plot for this one set up but I need to flesh out the characters involved and a few details' so this will be updated in a slow tempo (my priority is still SAE).**

 **I would really need a Beta that is familiar with the lore for this on since there is a lot of it to keep track of, I am open for volunteers, it will not be too much work as I doubt I will be able to finnish maybe three chapters a year considering how long this one too (even if that is because I forgot about it).**


End file.
